Collin Street Bakery

[gurdonark]

Corsicana is a small Texas town about 50 miles from Dallas. It's a nice place, with some older homes, some newer homes, some older people and some newer people. It has but one claim to world-wide fame. This famous institution is the Collin Street Bakery. The Collin Street Bakery is a very competent cookies and cakes type of bakery, opening in 1896, and using German recipes brought straight from Wiesbaden. Its fame, though, resides in its world-wide shipment of its Original Deluxe Fruitcake to loving customers throughout the world. The bakery got into mail order when the owner befriended Mr. Ringling, of Ringling Circus fame. One year, many members of the circus wanted fruitcakes sent to their families, all over Europe. Thus, a tradition of holiday fruitcake supply was born.

I believe that the fruitcake is in the finest winter holiday tradition. I love that thousands upon thousands of homes acquire a fruitcake for the holiday, although most folks don't particularly care for the taste of fruitcake. I don't know why it seems cool to me that as a matter of tradition, people buy a fruitcake, when they enjoy, say, a Snickers bar better. But once in a while, it seems to me to be worthwhile to key into a tradition. I am a big fan of taking disparate traditions like pieces of cast-off material, and then quilting them together. So I am intrigued that this fruitcake tradition is so strong.

I find myself in a curious position, though. I would send a fruitcake as a gift myself, without hesitation or remorse (although, in point of fact, I rarely, if ever, do). But when I myself go to the Collin Street Bakery, I tend to get the cookies with the M & M candies where the chocolate chips are supposed to be located.

After all, it's one thing to love Christmas traditions, but a good cookie is another thing altogether.

Comments

[nacowafer.livejournal.com]

Do they have Springerle?!?!

We have Monastery Fruitcakes in VA.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

May I point you in the direction of paularubia? This post makes me think that you would enjoy her amazing posts about the road trips she takes around Texas. She's based in Dallas, and often gets in her car, drives to and through small towns in Texas, then returns to LJ to post beautiful words about her trip.

[babilary.livejournal.com]

I am one of the few people I know who enjoys fruitcake. Perhaps its because my maternal grandmother, who lived with us for 10 years, would bake homemade fruitcake every year. I don't know that much about making it, but I know she had to start a month ahead of time, because the fruit & liquor had to ferment that long. I imagine she learned how from her mother. My grandmother was born in 1898 & lived on a farm in Virginia. We have long gaps between generations in my family.

Thanks for the story.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Their website, www.collinstreetbakery.com, lists only more mundane cookies. I like that Monastery website...click here for a fruitcake, click there for a prayer.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Very nice journal. Thanks!

[laruth.livejournal.com]

A slightly off-topic reply about fruit cakes....

It amazes me about the number of fruit cake wedding cakes that are in existance, when as you said, not that many people do like the taste of fruit cake. But there is an increasing trend towards non-fruitcake type wedding cakes (eg mud cake).

As for Christmas fruitcake, our family have never been in the tradition of purchasing (or making) fruitcake. Mum usually buys some when she feels like eating it, but it's not an ingrained Christmas tradition.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

How neat to have a fruitcake family tradition! Sounds fun!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I never heard of a fruitcake wedding cake, until now. Our weddings tend to have a "white" cake and a groom's cake which is chocolate. I've been to some nice ones with carrot cake. But never fruitcake.

[laruth.livejournal.com]

How odd! With the exception of the last two weddings I attended (where the cake was a chocolate mudcake, and the other was a stack of mini pastries-like things), all the wedding cakes I tried are fruitcake decorated in many beautiful shapes.

I think the point of the fruitcake wedding cakes were the ability to keep them "fresh" inside their casing of icing for the first year anniversary.

I used to remember as a child, thinking that when I grew up and got married, I didn't want to have a fruitcake for my wedding cake. That seemed like a very radical thought in those days where the traditional fruitcake was THE way of the wedding cake.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

The fun thing about the American/Aussie thing is that we are so similar in some ways, but then when you get to the details, we're so very different.

fruitcake

[salaryman.livejournal.com]

The annual Colin Street Original Deluxe Fruitcake, sent by parents, rarely lasts three days.

they are nutty and delicious and the tin is decorated with cowboys.

[paularubia.livejournal.com]

Corsicana! Yay!

http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=paularubia&itemid=55127

Of course, for MY money, Lefty Frizzell and Wolf Brand Chili are more important to Corsicana history than the Collin St. Bakery.

My mother makes fruitcakes every year. Lots of them. They are unusual in the fruitcake world, as they are white and lemony - dense with pecans and white raisins. Absolutely NO candied fruit! They're delicious. I'm going to have to learn to make them some day so I can be sure to carry on the tradition. I bet she's whipping up another 12 dozen as we speak.

How's life up in Allen?

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Lefty Frizzell (and the 2 or 3 other Texas music pioneers from Corsicana) are pretty important, and Wolf Brand Chili also deserves many kudos, but for some odd reason, the bakery is the "know the world over" attraction. I like it much better than you did, but different folks see things different ways. I'll still never be much of a fruitcake gourmet, though :).

It used to be Amtrak stopped in Corsicana, and I always thought that would be a fun, odd weekend--to ride the train down and maybe bicycle back.

Things in Allen are good--if growing!

Re: fruitcake

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thanks for sharing that.

[mesawyou.livejournal.com]

I love me some Wolf Brand Chili. :D

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! Me, too!

[paularubia.livejournal.com]

She's based in Dallas, and often gets in her car, drives to and through small towns in Texas, then returns to LJ to post beautiful words about her trip.

Thank you!

You'll be happy to know I've purchased my mother her first ever Lyle Lovett cd.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome! Your words keep me enchanted with my birth-state, which I know so little about.

And I'm so glad that your mother's getting a Lyle Lovett CD! Which album did you start her off with? I was thinking about getting my step-brother (15 years old) a Lyle album, maybe "Live in Texas," but I thought he might need a couple of years to really appreciate Lyle's music.

[paularubia.livejournal.com]

Which album did you start her off with?

Well, I was going to buy her the only Lyle CD I own (!),"Road to Ensenada" (which, by the way, I first heard as "Rodent Sonata" - a title SOMEONE should use), but Tower didn't have it, so I blindly picked "Lyle Lovett" - I now see that was his debut album. Hope it's good! I'm sure she'll like him.

[sun-set-bravely.livejournal.com]

Oh, "Road to Ensenada"! My heart breaks for that album. Such delicate, strong grief crafted poured into such elegant songs...

"Lyle Lovett" is a great album. One of my favorites is "This Old Porch," which includes the mouth-watering lines:
"This old porch is like a steaming, greasy plate of enchiladas,
With lots of cheese and onions
And a guacamole salad"

I think you should treat yourself to a Christmas gift of another Lyle album. His first is a great one to start with.